A preliminary investigation of potential cognitive performance decrements in non-help-seeking tinnitus sufferers

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the possible impact of tinnitus on the performance of challenging cognitive tasks. Design: Participants completed the hospital anxiety and depression scale and completed two cognitive tasks: the Vienna determination task and a variant of the Stroop paradigm. In addition, tinnitus sufferers completed the subjective tinnitus severity scale. Study sample: Thirty-three tinnitus sufferers and 33 controls took part in the study (n = 66). Results: Tinnitus sufferers were no more depressed nor anxious than controls, but they performed less well on both cognitive tasks. Conclusions: Possible causes and implications of these performance decrements are discussed, with particular attention given to the possibility that subjective distress is an important moderating factor in tinnitus sufferers.

Key Words::

• Anxiety
• cognitive performance
• tinnitus

Acknowledgements

Preliminary findings were presented to the annual British Society of Audiology (BSA) conference in Nottingham, UK, July, 2011.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.